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Please list some suggestions of lesser-known anime films or OVAs released roughly within the 1980s - 2000s that you consider to be of high quality but are not well-known. A quick line or two about why you like it would also help. I'm trying to find some underrated gems here that may elude me in google searches.

I have a preference towards either character-oriented stories revolving on personal conflict, or adventure, but with this request I am quite open to genres. As a point of comparison, some anime I have enjoyed the most are include Planetes, nearly all Ghibli films, Banner of the Stars, Mushishi, Haibane Reinmei, and so on.

Er...I may have to break the rule a bit for this one but I think you'll like it anyway. I recommend Ouji-san no Lamp since it has that retro feel. It's about a kid who goes into the lamp business but faces some real and down to earth struggles so it's very character-orientated. It's just a one episode special.

Have you watched Gauche The Cellist? Directed by Isao Takahata, so there's a 50/50 chance you have come across this movie before. I watched this almost a decade ago, so I can't remember much but one thing I remember is that music aspect is done really well, and the interaction between Gauche and the animals(especially the cat,lol) is cute.

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A politically ignorant person who embraces only hedonism as the main philosophical doctrine.

Have you seen The Wings of Honneamise? It’s the first sci-fi movie made by Gainax. It is quite underrated and didn’t do well in the box office but I think it’s good. It’s about an astronaut-in-training and the woman he likes. Beside the actual space mission, it also involve some conflict in the MC’s relationship.

My Dear Marie. Good damn comedy about a science geek that makes an android that resembles an associate of his that he likes(except 'up top') and how she integrates into his life. 3 ep ova series.

I know you don't want an action series, but Casshern was pretty good(the 4 ep 1993 OVA, not the 1970 TV series), probably known a bit more since Casshern SINS was made, but still a solid action series with a hint of romance.

Green Legend Ran: A little rough around the edges, but if you liked Miyazaki's stuff this one should be interesting. The aesthetic and setting looks kind of like Now and Then, Here and There if you've ever seen that.

Might as well start with the most well known anime films since I don't see Akira and Ghost in the Shell in your list ? (maybe you stayed away from them because you don't like SF ? If not, you need to check them out, as well as Patlabor 2 (don't be afraid, unlike the rest of the franchise, it's not really a mecha anime (and if mecha = gundam in your mind, it's not a mecha at all) and you don't need to have watched anything else of it to enjoy it)

You can't go wrong with Perfect Blue. It's weak on the animation side for a movie (it had an OVA budget), but there are reasons it jumpstarted Satoshi Kon's career and was shown in festivals all around the world before Miyazaki "redeemed" anime in the western world.

Finally, Memories is another favorite of mine. It's 3 different completely independant stories by 3 different directors (Otomo being one of them) The first one (Magnetic Rose, a SF variation on the Phantom of the Opera) is visually stunning, but my favorite might be the second one (Otomo's Stink Bomb, about some lab accidentally turning himself into a biological weapon)